Food coping mechanisms and their relation to perceived benefit of supplement/herbal products among covid-19 survivors in indonesia

COVID-19 pandemic has caused a shift in consumption behavior and belief in food among people in Southeast Asia. As an effort to protect themselves from infection, people turn to traditional medicines and health supplements. Food coping mechanism refers to an effort related to food consumption taken by the survivors as a way to cure COVID-19. This study aims to assess perceived benefit of supplement/herbal products among COVID-19 survivors and its relation to food coping mechanism. This was a quantitative, cross-sectional study conducted with an online survey. The data were analyzed descriptively, discussing the survivors’ coping mechanism analysis when confirmed positive for COVID-19 and the perceived benefits of supplement/herbal products. An independent T-Test was performed with significance 0.05 to analyze its association. The study included 473 participants. The average mean age of the overall sample population was 29.4 + 9.1 years. The average mean BMI of the overall sample population was 24.2 + 5.2 kg/m2. Taking vitamin C supplements was the most reported food coping mechanism (93.2%). Our study suggested a public awareness on correct preventive and medication of COVID-19 in terms of the use of supplement/herbal products, not resulting in a negative health outcome. As COVID-19 is an emerging disease, this study also brings a novelty to the scientific fields.